


First. Worst. Best

by Stormyexistence



Category: Arashi (Band), Johnny's Entertainment
Genre: Alternate Universe, Art, Baseball, First Crush, Flirting, Fluff, High School, M/M, Shyness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-26
Updated: 2019-11-26
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:33:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,334
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21566920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stormyexistence/pseuds/Stormyexistence
Summary: It was strange that afterwards Ohno could barely recall what happened next. Later that evening he examined the smeared painting and saw that it was much more alive than anything he’d previously produced and he was grateful to the boy who had literally swept him off his feet. The boy with the stunning brown eyes and beautiful face had driven all the depressed thoughts from Ohno’s mind and turned one of his worst days into one of hope.
Relationships: juntoshi
Comments: 4
Kudos: 16





	First. Worst. Best

**Author's Note:**

> This is my birthday gift for Arashi’s leader. He may have been reluctant to take on the role at first, but nobody could do the job any better. Happy Birthday Ohno-san. May the fish always be biting and the sun always shining.

**FIRST**  
  
The ball was high in the sky and almost aligned with the burning noonday sun. Jun used his glove to shield his eyes for a second as he ran backwards. His friend Aiba was yelling something but Jun was too busy concentrating on the flight of the baseball to hear him properly. The surface under his feet changed from grass to gravel as he reached the pathway running around the perimeter of the park.  
  
“I’ve got it!” Jun reached up and grinned as the ball fell snugly into his glove.  
  
A moment later, the world was revolving around Jun as the back of his legs made contact with something behind him sending him tumbling to the ground. His t-shirt offered no protection to his left elbow which scraped painfully across the loose stones.  
  
There was a clattering, followed by a muffled yell, and then silence. Jun lay stunned for a second before registering the urgent message his brain was trying to relay to him. He was resting on top of something which most definitely wasn’t turf. In fact it was warm and soft and smelled like peppermint. Before Jun could move, a breathless voice mumbled, “Would you mind shifting over a little? This is fun, but you’re kind of squashing some important bits.”  
  
Realizing that he was resting in the lap of another boy Jun blushed furiously as he attempted to remove himself. His attempt to flee was foiled by a wooden contraption with three legs which had somehow become entangled with his feet.  
  
“Hold still and let me fix it.” The other boy reached around Jun and tugged what turned out to be an artist’s easel away, allowing him to stand.  
  
Jun staggered to his feet, tugging on the back of his t-shirt which was sticking to his skin. As he twisted around to look, he noted with horror that his shirt was splattered with blobs of different coloured paint, mostly shades of blue and purple. On the ground was a slightly dented canvas with a half completed painting of the garden bed of iris plants in the corner of the park fence. At least that’s how Jun interpreted the abstract splashes of colour. He desperately hoped that the painting was intended to be that way and that he hadn't ruined it.  
  
The other boy stood up and looked at Jun intently. He appeared to be a few years older and had a softly rounded face and pouty lips. His skin was lightly tanned and smooth, apart from a small scar on his right cheek. He frowned and pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket. Jun froze in place as the boy took hold of his arm and began to dab at his elbow.  
  
Jun could feel the colour flooding into his cheeks at the intimate contact. “What are you doing?” His attempts to pull away were foiled by the boy’s deceptively strong grip.  
  
“You’re bleeding.”  
  
“It’s probably just paint. Don’t worry about it.”  
  
The boy ignored Jun and continued to gently clean his elbow.  
  
“Jun, are you okay? That looked pretty epic.” Aiba yelled as he rushed over, pushing his cap back from his eyes as he skidded to a halt. “Ew! Blood.”  
  
Only then did Jun realize that his elbow was stinging as tiny pieces of gravel were picked out of the open wound. He’d been so mesmerized by a pair of warm brown eyes that he hadn’t even felt the pain. “Ow.”  
  
The eyes in question were turned to Jun in sympathy. “Sorry, but if I don’t do this it might get infected.”  
  
“I’m the one who should be apologising. I’m sorry for knocking you over and ruining your painting,” Jun mumbled. “Thank you for helping me…um…sorry but I don’t even know your name.”  
  
“Ohno Satoshi. And don't worry about the painting. If anything, I think you've improved it." Ohno said gently as he attempted to put the younger boy at ease. "I think I should switch to abstracts from now on."  
  
Aiba jiggled impatiently. "C'mon Jun, you've got the ball and Nino is waiting to pitch. Let's go."  
  
Jun found it hard to drag himself away from Ohno who had finished cleaning the wound and tied his handkerchief firmly around Jun's elbow to stem the bleeding. "Sorry again Ohno-senpai. I'll wash the hanky and return it to you."  
  
"Don't worry about it." Ohno shrugged his shoulders. "My mother buys them for me by the truckload."  
  
Aiba enthusiastically waved goodbye to the older boy as he and Jun walked back to the baseball field. Ohno waved back and smiled before turning away to begin packing up his paints. “Ohno-senpai goes to the same high school as my cousin Sho-chan,” Aiba said to Jun, who was looking back over his shoulder as Aiba hurried him back to the game. “I hope to be accepted there next year too after we graduate. They have a fantastic sporting program.”  
  
“What about art? Ohno-senpai’s work looked really good.”  
  
Aiba giggled and tugged at the back of Jun’s paint splattered t-shirt. “It certainly left an impression on you.”  
  
The tips of Jun’s ears turned red as his friend teased him about Ohno. He couldn’t even deny it. For the first time in his fourteen years on earth he’d felt his heart beat faster when he’d looked into someone’s eyes. For the past year or so Jun had been imagining what it would feel like to have that instant connection with someone, but until now he’d never dared to admit even to himself that it was always a boy who figured in his fantasies.  
  
+

It took Jun ages to get the handkerchief back to pristine condition. Both Nino and Aiba mocked him as he scrubbed the square of cloth and carefully ironed it to smoothness in the kitchen before his mother came home from work. He carefully folded it and sealed it in a zip lock bag to keep it neat and placed it in his school bag. Unfortunately a month passed before Jun was able to make it to Ohno’s school to seek out the older boy to return it.  
  
Jun hovered near the entrance gate of the school but far enough away to stay clear of the flow of boys and girls who were dashing to freedom. It felt as if he’d been waiting forever and there was still no sign of Ohno emerging from the grounds. A handsome boy with large round eyes and sharp cheekbones spotted Jun and headed over.  
  
“Do you need any help? Oh, hi Jun-kun, Aiba said I might see you here.”  
  
Jun bobbed his head nervously; he’d never spoken to Aiba’s older cousin before without Aiba being around. “Hello Sho-san. Um, I’m looking for Ohno-senpai?”  
  
Sho grinned at the sight of Jun’s cheeks turning pink as he spoke Ohno’s name. Aiba had told him all about the incident in the park and the fact that Jun seemed to be pretty smitten with Sho’s friend. “You’re in luck. He stays behind most afternoons and works in the art club room. I’ll take you to him if you like.”  
  
Jun nodded shyly and gratefully followed Sho across the school grounds to a small hut set behind a healthy looking vegetable patch which was being tended by members of the gardening club. Sho pulled the door open and called, “Oh-chan! Visitor!”  
  
Before Jun knew what was happening Sho pushed him into the studio and closed the door behind him.  
  
  
**WORST**

Ohno set up his easel on the gravel path and sighed heavily. He would be sixteen soon and his parents were pressuring him to decide on a career to work towards. He didn't know how to please them though; his grades in everything but art were at best mediocre. It was impossible to imagine making a living from what everyone else said would probably amount to nothing more than a hobby in the real world though.

Some days he doubted that he had any real talent for painting either, and this was definitely one of those days. This very morning the results of the inter-school art competition have come as a blow. He’d been hoping to use a good result to convince his parents to allow him to undertake an arts degree after graduating high school. His detailed painting of his parents’ house had gone unremarked and unacknowledged by the judges though. The worst part of it was that he agreed with their indifference. While technically near to perfect the painting lacked life and inspiration. It was merely a soulless visual representation of what was before him.

The purple splash of the iris bed in the park had caught Onno’s eye in passing a few days earlier and now that it was Saturday he'd decided to return and try and capture it on canvas. He barely noticed a bunch of younger boys playing a noisy game of baseball nearby. Ohno had never been interested in either watching or playing sports. His grandfather had taken him fishing a few times though, and Ohno thought that it might be something which he could learn to enjoy. The sounds from the baseball field faded into the background as did Ohno’s worries about the future as he was drawn into his own little world by the familiar repetitive motions of layering paint onto the canvas.

Engrossed in his work, Ohno didn't see the boy running backwards towards him until the split second he was knocked off his feet. In an instant his view changed from the iris bed to the wide blue sky.

It was strange that afterwards Ohno could barely recall what happened next. Later that evening he examined the smeared painting and saw that it was much more alive than anything he’d previously produced and he was grateful to the boy who had literally swept him off his feet. The boy with the stunning brown eyes and beautiful face had driven all the depressed thoughts from Ohno’s mind and turned one of his worst days into one of hope.  


**BEST**  
  
“Excuse me?”

Ohno barely heard the quiet and hesitant words over the sound of the music he had plugged into his ears. The voice wasn't familiar but the luminous brown eyes gazing at him nervously were. They were the last thing he saw at night as he fell asleep and the first thing he thought about when waking. “Jun-kun?”

Jun edged closer clutching the plastic bag containing the hanky so tightly that his knuckles turned white. “Sorry to intrude, but I promised to return this to you.”

Ohno wiped his hands on a clean rag and removed his ear buds. He took the plastic bag from Jun’s hand which was shaking noticeably. “You didn't have to return it, but I'm glad you did.”

Jun inclined his head in acknowledgement as his cheeks turned pink. “I should be going now.”

“Would you like a cold drink?”

Their words overlapped and Jun stared at Ohno like a startled deer before nodding shyly.

“The club always keeps the place well stocked with drinks and snacks.” Ohno handed Jun a can of soda from the mini fridge and grabbed a bag of potato chips from the shelf above. “There are some seats over here,” he added, leading Jun to the corner of the hut. It contained a selection of mismatched chairs and a low table which was being propped up by a stack of books at one end. The walls were covered by completed paintings and Jun wandered around taking them in as he sipped at his can of cola. There was one painting in particular which caught Jun’s eye. It was a striking abstract on the wall opposite where Ohno was sitting. The colours were an odd combination of purple, blue, and brown. It gave Jun the feeling of a garden on a summer’s day, but the brown swirls confused him and made him feel as if he was riding a roller-coaster. In the lower right corner was a small ‘Satoshi’.

“This is yours?” When Jun turned to face Ohno his eyes were wide with wonder and admiration. “It’s amazing. But I'm afraid I don't understand it.”

Ohno took a sip of his drink and looked pointedly from Jun to the painting and back.

Jun almost choked on a chip. “Me?”

“You opened my eyes to a whole new way of painting. Before I met you I was only concerned about exactly recreating what I saw before me. But now I paint to express my feelings.”

“Because of me? But I ruined your painting.”

“Far from it. You improved it.” Ohno sat down on a wobbly bench and explained that the purple represented the iris flowers in the park. The blue was the sky he as he lay on his back on the warm grass with Jun on his lap. He kept the most important fact to himself. Too embarrassed to tell Jun that his pair of arresting brown eyes had awakened his emotions and unlocked a new level of talent he didn’t even know he possessed.

Jun felt his heart beating faster as he watched Ohno’s impassive face come alive as he spoke of his work and of the day on which they’d met. Jun knew that he wanted to learn more about this talented, quiet boy. “My friend Aiba is planning on enrolling here next year and wants me to join him. He’s Sakurai Sho-san’s cousin.”

“And will you?” Ohno asked as hope blossomed in his chest.

“Until today I was unsure, but now I think that this is definitely the perfect school for me.”

“I think that sounds perfect to me too.” Ohno shifted over on the bench, making enough room for Jun.

With only the slightest hesitation, Jun took a seat beside Ohno. Ohno slid imperceptibly closer, until their shoulders were almost but not quite touching. In companionable silence they munched their way through the bag of chips and privately dreamed of what next year and beyond might bring.


End file.
